


What if Things were Different?

by to_the_stray_dogs



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-24 15:47:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30074571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/to_the_stray_dogs/pseuds/to_the_stray_dogs
Summary: This is an AU where Catra leaves the Horde to join forces with the princesses, and Adora/She-ra stays behind.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Kudos: 18





	1. Pulling the Portal Lever

**Author's Note:**

> There's lots of AUs I've seen where Catra is She-ra, but I wanted to make something a little different. What if certain things were just slightly different, what effect would it have on their world? What if Adora never met Glimmer and Bow in the Whispering Woods? What if Catra's heart softened before Adora's? Besides just Catradora, what if little differences happened to the other characters, such as someone being somewhere else at a different time? I wrote this to show how big of a difference the smallest things can make. I plan to really flesh this one out, so I hope you all like it. <3

**The land around her was falling into oblivion as Catra fell to her knees. She stared down at the red headpiece in her hands. It glinted softly under the moonlight, as a tear from her face struck it and slid down. She paused and reached up to wipe her face, looking down at the tears on her fingers. How long has it been since she last cried? She truly believed the Horde had taken the last bit of her humanity, yet here she was, questioning every decision she’s made to this point. Was any of it worth it?**

With She-ra at their side, the Horde had over taken much land. She was like a devil, filled with unfathomable rage. The Alliance of Etheria had won the Battle of Brightmoon by the tips of their fingers, but things have slowly been slipping away. They had lost Bow, and Entrapta tried to keep up with the Horde’s growing technology but her resources were limited. She had however noted some anomalies, and feared the chance that Hordak may be building a portal.

And turns out, they were. Intel brought word of a plan to launch it that very night. They knew they had to act quickly. Glimmer and Shadow Weaver transported themselves, Catra, Queen Angella, and Entrapta to the Fright Zone. It smelled like fire. Catra’s nose crinkled and her ears went back, being flooded by memories of this terrible place. It was here that her and Adora ran the halls as children, where they… well, Catra, fell in love. But all of that had changed now. Adora had grown bitter. One evening when they were pre-teens, they had snuck out and stole a ship, playing in the Whispering Woods. There, Adora found a sword, and something amazing happened- she turned into a being called She-ra. Shadow Weaver was not far behind them, and brought them back. When Hordak learned about Adora’s gift, her life swiftly changed. She was quickly pushed into training designed to create a weapon out of her. Catra could do nothing but watch.

Catra pushed her hair back, taking in a deep breath. Angella placed her hand on her shoulder. “It will be alright darling. I won’t let anything happen to you.” She smiled up at her in return, catching Shadow Weaver’s glare behind her. She frowned again, but they continued on.

As they came around the corner they were greeted by Bow and Scorpia. Bow was alive. A scar now decorated his face, and suited with a red and black Horde uniform. His eyebrows furrowed as he pulled his bow and arrow.

“Just who I wanted to see, the Sparkling princess that stabbed me in the back.” Bow stretched the string back, ready to fire.

Glimmer raised her fist, her power glowing, she called out to the others. “Go on ahead, Shadow Weaver and I have this!”

Angella hesitated but nodded at her, and she, Entrapta, and Catra continued to Hordak’s chamber. 

As they entered the room a fight quickly broke out. Hordak shot at them at the same time as Angella. Taking to the air the two began a shooting match. Catra had made eye contact with Adora, who quickly gasped when she saw the cat girl enter the room. Adora looked a lot like she did when she was younger, but there was an ache to her now. Her short blonde hair fell just above her shoulders. She wore a dark uniform with a badge at her chest with the image of a sword. A bright light flashed and She-ra was now in the fight.

She-ra moved so quickly when the roof came down that none of them had time to react. She grabbed Queen Angella, holding her sword to her throat. Catra had fallen near the lever, and the others were trapped behind beams. When her ears quit ringing, Catra looked up to see Adora holding Angella.

“Don’t!” Catra screamed, reaching her hand out.

“Or what?” Adora said, a smile across her face.

Catra grabbed hold of the lever. She knew that it would create a false reality if she pushed it, and they would all be thrown into it. But if it meant the life of the Queen, then she would figure it out. She would fix it.

Entrapta screamed from across the room. “No Catra! It will tear reality apart!”

Shera’s sword was still at Angella’s neck. Angella winced as the sword slowly started to slice her into her throat.

Catra’s pupils narrowed at this then looked into Adora’s eyes as she pulled the lever and everything went dark.


	2. A City that Didn't Exist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lever had been pulled, the world had gone dark, and now the group finds themselves waking up to a different life. Yet, so much seems familiar as it does strange. How could that be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Strong language, mentions of blood and death

A faint voice whispered in the dark, “Adora? Don’t you get it? …DON’T!”

Adora’s eyes shot open to see a room made of crystal. She heard a waterfall, and felt a comfortable bed under her. She looked around confused at first, sitting up to see Catra, Glimmer, and Bow run into the room. Catra was laughing, and Adora frowned. 

Catra reached her hand out to her. Why did her heart jump at this? “What are you doing sleepyhead? Aren’t you coming?”

“Where are we going?” Adora asked. Catra looked different to Adora, but she couldn’t place how exactly.

“Did you already forget?” Glimmer smiled walking up behind them. “We’re visiting Garnera today, Princess Scorpia is so excited to discuss hosting your wedding!”

“That’s right…” Adora said, taking Catra’s hand. When they touched, it felt as though the entire room glitched away. She saw a glowing green energy source, it felt dark and evil. She fell to the ground, grabbing her head. Her friends all called her name and kneeled down around her.

She looked around, somewhat disoriented. “What was that…?”

Garnera was a beautiful city. It had high metal buildings that looked like they could touch the sky itself. The group was standing just outside of it, in a field of beautiful flowers in front of the Whispering Woods.

Catra stared out at the woods. Something felt, wrong. The shadows from Garnera slowly covered them as the sun started to set. How did she get here? She can’t remember. She can’t remember what happened yesterday, or even waking up this morning. And, why does this place feel so familiar, so much like home? This is her first time even being here as much as she can remember.

“Are you okay Catra?” Glimmer asked, looking at her friend. “I mean, I’m sure you’re both stressed with planning everything, but you and Adora seem off today.”

“I’m alright-“ Scorpia cut her off saying, “Hey Catra! Man, I’m so honored to have She-ra and her fiancé here.”

Catra forced a smile out. “Yeah, I’m just having trouble keeping up with things, flowers and pretty stuff isn’t really my thing. Or writing invitations.”

“Oh, so you’re a bad pla-“

“I’m not a bad friend!” Catra blurted out. Wait, what was that? That isn’t what Scorpia was going to say, but something about that train of words coming from her mouth set something off. She blushed out of embarrassment as everyone stared at her. A shadow quickly crossed over them, and she followed its path to see effervescent wings disappearing into the woods. “Did you guys see that?” She pushed past them and started running towards the woods. She didn’t know why, but something seemed really important about those wings, and something was definitely wrong here.

“Catra, wait!” Adora called out to her. “Stay!”

The moment she said that word Catra felt like her heart was going to stop. She stopped and looked back at Adora, who was now grabbing her chest in pain. The rest of the group had vanished, and behind them is what seemed like ruins of Garnera. No… this, this is the Fright Zone. How could she forget? Everything glitched again, and now they were standing in an endless field. Boulders floating around them, and the grass reached their knees. They stared at each other, tears were running down Adora’s face.

Catra stared down at her shaking hands. She became flooded by memories; their promise to protect each other, Adora finding the sword, caring for her wounds after training, Adora breaking down and saying she hated her, packing her bag and leaving a note for Adora, meeting Glimmer, leading the Rebellion, fighting a war, losing battles, the devastation Adora caused as She-ra, the blood and the bodies, Adora holding a sword to Angella’s neck, the feeling like she was running out of time, like this was all her fault somehow, like she didn’t know how to say she was sorry for not protecting her…

“This isn’t real Adora.” Catra said, looking up to see all the trauma of years past had already returned to Adora’s eyes. The light had left. Her long blonde hair and white dressed flowed in the wind. 

She screamed in anger, grabbing the tiara on her head and throwing it to the ground. “I’m no fucking princess, and I’m sure as hell not yours. Why are we here?”

Catra’s brow furrowed, her tail fluffed out. “You. Because you tried to kill the Queen.”

“I’m not the one who pulled the lever.”

“Oh, and you wouldn’t have? It was your plan all along.”

“Our plan was to start it, just enough so Horde Prime would see it and find us. It had nothing to do with actually setting it off.”

Catra’s eyes widened. “So, it is my fault?”

The ground around them began to break off and float into a void of light. Catra’s eyes wondered into the endless sky, tears forming at the edges.

Adora’s voice sounded raspy from anger. “All of this, is because of you.” She said, sounding like she meant more than just the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure this raises some questions and gives some answers. We saw some of Catra's memories of this reality, of how far apart her and Adora had become. Yet, you may also be wondering how the original reality is bleeding over in little phrases and moments... everything will be answered soon...


	3. Somewhere Between the Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora is filled with anger, but Catra can only see the hurt little girl from her past.

“Adora stop, please.” Catra begged the girl walking towards her. Her old appearance had returned. The long shiny hair was traded for short and dull, the scar across her cheek had returned, and the light had faded away from her eyes. Everything was back to how she knew her, except the long white dress. The hem of the dress caught on the grass as Adora picked up speed. Screaming, she ran at Catra, grabbing her by the wrists and pushing her. Catra stumbled backwards staring at her old best friend. Questions and emotions filled her mind. She didn’t want to hurt her, she couldn’t hurt her anymore. But, Adora’s heart was nothing but rage. Blood lust was in her ocean blue eyes.

Adora was grinding her teeth. “I was just a kid.”

“I know, I know. I didn’t mean for things to end like that.”

“You just left me there.” Adora shoved her. She took another step towards her. “You left me there in that hell to just burn.” With each step she took she said, “And I burned, and burned, and burned.”

Catra shook her head. “What could I have done Adora? We were already so separated by forces out of our control.” A frustrated anger started to rise in her. “You were out of control.” She finally shoved her back.

Adora screamed, tears welling up in her eyes. “If it’s my destiny to be a weapon, to burn in this hellfire, then you’re going to burn with me.” She grabbed Catra again and they began fighting and shoving each other, Adora pushing her closer and closer to the void slowly centering on them. 

Catra began to cry. She looked at the girl knelt over her, all the anger and pain and only saw the light that she had brought into her world. Adora was broken, but to Catra, she was nothing but sunlight. She was a soft smile the day she was brought into the Horde, she was comforting arms in the cold, she was her best friend. She looked at the dress hanging on her skin and wondered what it meant, why in this world they were planning a wedding. Somewhere in her heart she knew that she had created this reality. The Fright Zone wasn't there because in an ideal world it would never have existed. They would have just been happy. Adora would have been happy. Hell, even if it wasn't marriage, even if Catra wasn't there, she just wanted Adora to have a different life than the one she had to face. 

Slowly, Catra reached her hand up. Her claws were retracted. She placed her hand on her cheek, her finger gently stroking the scar on the blonde’s face. “You’re not a weapon.”

At that moment, something knocked Adora over the back of the head, and her unconscious body fell on top of Catra.

Catra saw Queen Angella was who knocked Adora out. “Well, that is different.” She said, an unhappy look on her face.

“What?” Catra asked.

“It’s not real Catra, none of it. You’ll go back, but I wanted a moment to talk.”

Catra shuddered in confusion, watching as the Queen slowly walked up to her. “What do you mean?

Angella still forced that sweet smile she always had. “I know I mean a great deal to you where you’re from, practically the mother Shadow Weaver never was. But in the reality I came from, I didn’t know you at all. It’s sort of sad really.” She turned back around, staring at the void circling around them, and looking down at Adora’s unconscious body in Catra’s lap. “All of this exists because of you.”

Catra felt tears forming in her eyes. “No! I know I pulled the lever, but I did it to protect you. And I fixed it.”

Angella just shook her head. “In the original reality I came from, you didn’t pull the lever to protect me. You did it because you were hurt and nothing could satisfy that pain other than watching the world burn. And I made the decision to become trapped between realities to fix it.”

“And that fixed it?”

She nodded. “But, being trapped here, I’ve had a lot of time to watch. Our lives go down so many paths by forces that are out of our control. And things are having trouble staying together because time and time again I watch you make the decision to push that lever, and we all end up here again, between worlds that were never meant to collide. And each time, I make the decision to be trapped here.”

Catra felt her hands shaking. “But I don’t want you to go.”

“The Angella you know will be there waiting for you. This isn’t my reality after all.”

Catra looked down at Adora, brushing a stray piece of her blonde hair out of her face. “Is, is my reality even real?”

Angella paused a moment to kneel down next to the two girls. “I can’t answer that for sure. Each time, I see pieces of others bleeding into each other, small phrases, quiet moments. But I believe it’s as real as I am sitting next to you now.”

Her ears went back as she took a breath to calm herself. “Where you’re from, is Adora… happy?”

Angella smiled again. “My dear you’re here because you love so, so deeply. And the love you share with that young woman laying here is strong enough to save the universe.” Angella stood up and kissed Catra on the forehead. “Go home and live your life. I’m sure that no matter how shattered your story is, you and her have the power to put the pieces back together.”


End file.
